Myosotis
by SookSouli
Summary: Angeal had never seen Sephiroth so badly hurt. Come to think of it, he hadn't really seen Sephiroth hurt at all. Sometimes, you forgot he could be. It was easy to forget that he was human. S/C Z/A pairings. Some Z/A smut.


**AN: **I was in two minds whether or not to post this. But at 4000 words, I wasn't just going to leave it rotting on my hard-drive. I love a good bit of H/C before bedtime, but I've never seen it done IC (not that I usually care, for some reason), and I don't think this is any exception (hence the included porn to distract and butter you all up!). I loved writing it, but I usually like really studying the characters and making sure it all sort of...seems possible, has reasons and so on. I'm not at all comfortable with how I wrote Angeal, describing him as protective or whatnot. I can see him being that way, but the more I think about the things he says in canon, he doesn't seem very much like how I've written him. But oh well, it's here, it's queer, deal with it! (Did I just type that?) .

**MYOSOTIS**

It was completely wont to receive phone calls in the middle of the night for Angeal. For most first classes, in actual fact; there was always some ridiculous thing or monster or meeting that he had to get up for or was "required for". It was one of the major down-points of being strong, powerful and successful. Who knew that despite being those things he would still have rubbish wages, sore muscles, atrocious amounts of paperwork to do and on top of all that he was expected to mentor promising students, attend meetings and jump at any order no matter what the time?

He sighed as the phone rang out for the third time. He untangled himself from the lanky limbs of his lover currently wrapped all over him and snoring loudly and reached for the phone. He groaned as the ringing just stopped. It was a private number: he'd have to wait until they called again. Angeal held onto the phone and curled back up with the lump of furiously spiky, black hair and developing muscular, tanned arms.

"Mm. Who was it?" it murmured.

"I don't know. Private number." He flexed his shoulders and put an arm around the other man, who wasted no time in moving closer to his chest, his breath hot and ticklish on the exposed skin.

"Zack?"

He received a gurgling noise in response as Zack slipped back into sleep.

"Eloquent," he said with a deep chuckle. He tightened his hold around the younger man and pressed his lips to his warm cheek. He ran his fingernail across the length of the thin scar he had on his jaw and proceeded to run it through his unruly, dark hair.

"Nuh-uh, 'ngeal. I gotta get up in, like, three hours. You want some happy time, you know where your hand is," Zack groaned, his voice clogged with sleepiness.

Angeal rolled his high, slanted eyes. He hadn't been planning on having a second round but now Zack's cheeky comment had put the thought in his head and he was dozing right there with his warm, pliant skin that smelled just so. He lowered his face into his neck, breathing deeply, smelling himself there as well as a particular soapy smell that Angeal adored. He moved his head upward, his tongue darting out to tease and lick the very sweet spot just behind Zack's ear. The teenager jumped, his eyes fluttering open with a little gasp, as Angeal continued.

"Angeal," he said with a warning, and unwillingly laced with pleasure.

"Mm?" He bit down on that particular spot, a fingertip teasing one of the youth's darker nipples.

Zack cried out, breathing a little harder as he grit his teeth, clearly in two minds about whether to go for it or to knock Angeal on his ass.

"Oh, you bastard," he breathed when Angeal turned his tongue's attention to where his fingers were previously. "Aaah. Okay, okay. Just a quickie." He pulled on Angeal's shoulders, making him face up and kissed him solidly; wet, smooth lips becoming more eager and wandering hands impassioned as the kiss deepened. Angeal broke away with a short moan as Zack's hand enfolded around his thick erection.

"Naughty pup."

Zack laughed. "I'm getting a little old for that one." He moved his hand slowly, rubbing the head and smearing the liquid there.

"A-ah, you're still the same restless puppy you e-ever were – mm."

"Oh? Restless?" Zack thumbed him gently, twisting and rubbing every now and then; he was an absolute tease. "Whose fault is that?" A wicked glint in his eye and a smirk on his lips told Angeal that Zack wasn't really annoyed, but was going to make him pay somehow, nevertheless. He couldn't really concentrate on it at that exact moment, not with Zack's hands doing delightful, unmentionable things to his erection and his tongue similarly to his ear. Angeal wrapped his one large hand around the working boy's straining length, another rolling his balls and straddled his thighs, Zack threw back his head and moaned loudly. Angeal moved closer and brought them together, stroking simultaneously. He lowered his mouth and they kissed again, breaking only for oxygen or when the pleasure peaked and fell so quickly they convulsively separated to cry out.

"Ugh, Angeal. I'm close. Ah," Zack whimpered, his toes curling.

"Zack. _Puppy_. Oh," he panted.

"Ah, ah, Ahhn-geaaahl." White fluid leaked and spurted, his entire body taut and arched in half-lidded ecstasy before he collapsed back down onto the bed, his eyes already drooping. He swatted Angeal's hands away and replaced them with his own, milking him. "Come for me, Angeal.." If Zack's blissful moan of his name hadn't sent him reeling over the edge, that certainly did. Glorious, hot pulses shot through his belly and he breathlessly called out his lover's name into the dark, trembling.

With a sigh, he lay fully on the younger man. They lay panting, close - chest to chest - and kissing. They were still revelling in the warm, afterglow feel of each other's skin when Angeal's phone started piercingly ringing again. He sluggishly lifted the blankets, looking for where he'd dropped it. He grabbed it; the name read: _Sephiroth_.

"Hey," he said, still a little short of breath. It took a moment for him to realise that the voice from the phone was also laboured.

"Angeal. I'm...sorry, did I call at an inconvenient time?"

"Sephiroth?" he questioned. "Ah, no. It's fine, why would you think -?"

"I'm calling you at ... two A.M." Sephiroth's voice was hitching, Angeal sat up and away from Zack, who had been cleaning them off. "And you're breathing strangely, Angeal. Two...plus two..."

"Sephiroth. What's wrong?" he interrupted, feeling worried. Zack seemed to sense his fear and had also sat up, hair trailing down his back.

There was silence, filled only by his gasps. "I'm...I think I'm in need of...I need some help," Sephiroth said finally.

"Where are you?" Angeal said, rushed. Zack placed his hands on his shoulders.

"Don't panic." Sephiroth breathed and Angeal could hear his smirk. "Ugh-ha."

"Sephiroth! Where are you?" _Was he in pain? What had happened?!_

"Lab twenty. Please, could you come?"

Angeal was already pulling on trousers, balancing the phone between his shoulder and ear. "I'll be two minutes. Are you injured?"

"Not...seriously. I don't think...Angeal?"

"What?"

"Don't bring Genesis." The tone went dead.

"Shit!" Angeal pulled on his shirt, flipping his phone shut.

"What's happened?" Zack demanded, also getting out of bed.

"Sef's injured in the labs. Fucking _Hojo_. You stay here, I don't think he'd like..."

"I get it, don't worry," Zack said, nodding. Angeal hardly _ever _swore, even at nineteen it still unnerved him when he did. "Call me, though, otherwise I'll be up worrying."

Angeal nodded, kissed him soundly on the mouth and vanished from the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Zack shook his head, clambering back into the bed. He sounded like a housewife sometimes; it was ridiculous, he thought.

--

The ShinRa building wasn't far from where his apartment was and he ran the whole way there; for a first class that took hardly any time at all, for Angeal it took much less than that. Even in the middle of night, the entire building was lit, every room, every hall. Angeal shook his head; if they wanted to preserve mako energy they should try switching off a damn light every once in a while. What a waste. Even as he thought this, however, he was grateful he could see easily. The mako ploughing through his veins, of course, made it remarkably easy - comparatively to non-SOLDIERs - for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but it didn't enable _tapetum lucidum_ which he was fairly sure Sephiroth had, though he'd never asked.

He was unsurprised to find the majority of the laboratories in darkness. Hojo and his strange, sycophantic servants thought it better to keep their experiments without light. They already knew how things reacted in the light but not how they reacted locked inside, in darkness. The thought sickened him, to the point where he simply did not want to know what they kept locked inside these rooms. He feared the sight of creatures could push him over the edge and that he might even consider leaving ShinRa. And that was a very dangerous line of thought.

He hadn't noticed how hard he was breathing until he stopped to make sure he was outside the right lab. It was one of the few lit: laboratory twenty. He tried the door. It was locked.

"Dammit," he hissed. "Sephiroth. Are you in there?"

"Yes," he heard, muffled.

"The door's locked."

"Oh, no. How will I _ever _get out?" Even through the door, Angeal could tell by his monotonous tone that Sephiroth was glaring at him. "Do you think you could break it? Or is that. Too. Hard?"

Angeal rolled his eyes; if he could be that sarcastic he must be fine. He braced his foot on the lock, behind the handle and with a concentrated, well-aimed kick he busted the thing right off its hinges. He stopped, waiting for the alarm that didn't sound. He blinked as the bright light assaulted his eyes.

"Sef?"

He heard could hear laboured breathing.

"I'm here."

Angeal turned and held in a gasp, frozen for just a second. Sephiroth was crouched and bent over, shirtless, and his hair was draped, hiding his body completely. He was barely holding onto a tall stool's legs. Even with the sheet of silver hair shrouding him, the tremors shaking his pale, muscular body were obvious. Angeal moved quickly, his face a still picture of calm. He put his arms on his back and the general flinched.

"Sef. Come on, can you lean on me?"

He received the barest of nods and slowly the man put his arms over Angeal's shoulders. He heaved him up, ignoring the grunts of pain, and sat him on the nearest bed. Sephiroth may have been built slighter than himself but he was taller, just as heavy and twice as strong. He noticed with a slight pause the bed sheets had more than a few trickles of blood on it and thick, leather straps where wrists and ankles would be were snapped. Sephiroth said nothing, but continued to breathe raggedly. Angeal, swiftly losing control on his anger, swept the silver hair back out of his face and his eyes widened.

"What the hell happened?" He looked for something to wipe the blood away. Sephiroth said nothing while he searched. Angeal shot him a pointed look, his mouth twisting and conceding to answer. Sephiroth sighed.

"You mean who."

"Hojo."

"Correct, Angeal." He clutched his side and doubled over, groaning.

"Here." Angeal held out a bandage but Sephiroth didn't move, his hair sliding down, matted and tangling with the blood on his face in stained clumps. Cautiously, Angeal reached out and tilted the silver haired man's chin up, the blood from his eyes and nose pouring down his face. It reminded him of Wutai, the warriors, dead and bloody on the ground. Their faces and especially their eyes had always been red with blood. Angeal grimaced, appalled at Sephiroth for letting this happen. He couldn't fathom this self-destructive side of his personality. He could have easily stopped the deranged professor if he had wanted. Was Sephiroth self-destructive or was there another reason he hadn't killed Hojo? Methodically and gentler than he thought his anxiety would permit him, he dabbed at the blood, wiping it from the striking, green eyes that slid shut in defeat.

"Why did he do this?" Angeal asked, instead of what he really wanted to know.

"Research," Sephiroth spat, wincing as Angeal tried to make him sit straight. "It's always research. He...this time..."

"Pushed too far," Angeal finished for him. Sephiroth nodded slowly as though the motion made his head hurt.

"I'm...different."

Sephiroth exhaled, being still as Angeal guided his head back to stop the flow from his nose. He shifted stiffly and his arm muscles trembled. Angeal felt almost on edge. They locked gazes and Angeal kept it steadily, although he could tell his nervousness was affecting the general. He had never seen Sephiroth so badly hurt. Come to think of it, he hadn't really seen Sephiroth hurt at all.

Sometimes, you forgot he could be.

"Stop it," Sephiroth said. "You have nothing to be fidgeting about. I'm...fine. I only need to rest, but I can't here."

Angeal said nothing, only quirked an eyebrow at him. He eyed the oddly coloured bruises on the general's otherwise flawless chest.

"Can you walk?"

"If I lean."

Angeal nodded, moving beside him to allow an arm to be thrown around his neck and he heaved him up.

"We should move quickly," murmured Sephiroth. "I'm supposed to be locked in here overnight."

Angeal froze. "I really wish you'd mentioned that on the phone, you know, before I broke the door in two."

"Yes, well. Sorry."

Angeal sighed. "Never mind. Put this on." He handed Sephiroth the jacket he was wearing. He helped him pull it on, over his hair. He noticed how it was so long it still peaked out past the bottom of the jacket.

--

The walk to Sephiroth's apartment in the Level One Key Block of the ShinRa HQ's buildings was fairly short, considering. Angeal had been there only a few times but he knew the way off by heart, which was fortunate since the general he was supporting had shut his eyes tight, quite probably concentrating on not feeling the pain.

"Ifrit! What am I doing?" Angeal hissed to himself, stopping.

"Please," Sephiroth said lowly. "Do not tell me you've had a very ill timed epiphany about the evil of your ways and have decided to dump me here and join a resistance group."

Angeal rolled his eyes.

"Because," he continued. "I would prefer it if you didn't."

"Shut up," the dark haired man said, flicking the back of Sephiroth's head – who groaned. "I've got no patience for your sarcasm. Why can't you be this funny when we're drinking?"

Sephiroth made a sound like he had opened his mouth.

"I can't believe you haven't asked me to use a Cure," Angeal said.

"You...forgot?"

"You noticed? You noticed and didn't say anything?"

"I assumed that maybe you were low on MP or something like that."

"Ifrit. You idiot." He unhooked Sephiroth's arm from around him and held him up. He swayed. He cast a Cure 3, just in case. With a glow and a sigh, Sephiroth stood straight, rolling his shoulders and moving his neck from side to side with a crack.

"Thank you."

"Sorry it took so long," he drawled, scratching the back of his neck. In truth, he was more so unsettled that Sephiroth's injury had thrown him off so badly he _forgot to cast a Cure_. The most basic thing he'd ever learned. Injury equalled Cure.

Sephiroth just nodded, his head slightly tilted, eyes narrowed. Angeal always got the impression that he was trying to make sense of or was studying something someone did or was saying when he done this.

"I'll walk you back to the apartment, Sef."

"That's not necessary,"

"It's fine, plus a Cure won't fix your exhaustion."

He took out his phone and sent a text to Zack, walking slowly by his side, alert in case Sephiroth suddenly collapsed, which he was likely to do. He wondered why the general hadn't wanted Genesis to find him, why he thought Angeal would actually _bring him_ specifically. It was fairly obvious on second thought: Genesis and Sephiroth had an interesting relationship to say the least. He could understand why he didn't want Genesis to see him in such a weak state. Sephiroth probably thought Genesis would enjoy it. Sephiroth had also taken to assuming, in his time knowing him, that he and Genesis were attached at the hip. Something that was becoming less and less plausible with each passing day.

Then again, Sephiroth was different. Who knew why he did what he did? Angeal knew to never presume he _knew_ anything about him. He was a dutiful friend, unwilling to push or prod the withdrawn man into telling him things. He would help when asked and not interfere, despite his curiosity, and Sephiroth was grateful for that.

At least, he didn't _usually_. Recently, Angeal had noticed in himself that he was beginning to become as guarding of Sephiroth as he was of Genesis. It was not something that either man needed, but he felt it nonetheless. Zack called him a mother hen sometimes when he made a fuss. Perhaps he was right. He knew all three – Zack, Genesis and Sephiroth – could protect themselves in battle, he had no concern there whatsoever. Out of it, however – he glanced at Sephiroth – was a different matter. Sephiroth and Zack were too naïve, for completely different reasons and in completely different ways, despite both being arrogant fuckers. Genesis was far too passionate, he only ever felt things in the extremities.

He sighed.

"What's wrong?" asked the jade eyed man.

Angeal just looked at him. "Ah, nothing."

The rest of the journey was mostly in silence, except from Angeal teasing the other man lightly to keep him awake. The building itself was massive, most of it just for show. The President stayed in one of the apartments; in several most likely. That was why Sephiroth stayed here.

He used Sephiroth's keycard to get in, keeping a firm hold on him in the elevator as his eyes constantly drooped, followed by his head. He shook him.

"Stay awake now."

He nodded.

--

Sephiroth's apartment was immaculately neat and clean. He always thought that Sephiroth had someone take care of the place for him, but it turned out that Sephiroth hated anyone touching or going through his possessions, sparse as they were, and did it all himself.

The image of Sephiroth in an apron, holding a vacuum cleaner, made him sure of such things as one day Genesis would star in a Broadway musical and Tseng would wear a kimono to work.

He guided the half-asleep man to the couch and let him fall unceremoniously there with a smirk.

"Ouch," he groaned. "Wait, are we in my apartment?" He sounded panicked.

"Yes," Angeal said with a laugh. "You're out of it. Aren't you glad I walked you back now?"

It only took him a half a second to realise that they were not the only ones in the apartment. He felt the barest amounts of movements from one of the other rooms. His eyes narrowed on one of the doors. It was definitely from there. He took up an immediate stance.

"There's someone else here." _Who would break into Sephiroth's apartment?_

Sephiroth froze on the couch. "Uh, no. No, there isn't."

"You can't be that bad, surely you can sense it," Angeal hissed incredulously.

Sephiroth sat up, forearms shaking. "I am...fine. There's no-one here."

Angeal hesitated, confused. "What's going on?" he asked slowly.

"Nothing," Sephiroth said quickly.

"Sef, you look like a chocobo caught in the headlights."

He continued to do so.

"Have ... have you _got_ someone in your bedroom?" Angeal's voice went up an octave in his whisper and felt himself go a little red in embarrassment. The idea of Sephiroth with someone was completely alien to him. He didn't even know Sephiroth knew what sex _was_! Well, obviously he _knew_ what it was. But not involving himself, he just didn't know how to deal with people. Angeal had seen thousands of women and men alike hurtle themselves at the silver haired man, he even had a fanclub, but Sephiroth usually looked at them as though they needed a Remedy.

Sephiroth himself shifted uncomfortably. _Was there some pink in his cheeks?_

"Cloud," he said. "Come out, it's fine."

Angeal turned slowly as the bedroom door opened. A rather disgruntled and timid looking blond boy entered the living room, strikingly blue eyes flicking between the two men. He was obviously Sephiroth's lover: as if being in the bedroom didn't make it obvious enough, he was clad in boxer shorts and one of the general's larger shirts.

"What happened?" the boy asked immediately, almost angrily; his voice betrayed his looks, he was seemingly in his late teens rather than early which is what he looked like. In fact, he looked barely legal.

Genesis was going to _love _this.

"Cloud," Sephiroth said, sitting up. "Commander Angeal Hewley, Angeal, Cadet Cloud Strife."

The second he said 'commander,' Cloud's face did what could only be explained as a 'facial flail' and went as stiff as a board, saluting and staring straight ahead.

"Sir!"

Angeal smirked. "At ease, Strife..."

Cloud hardly relaxed, although not standing to attention. Instead he seemed to tense further, unsure if he could move or not. Sephiroth nodded at him and Cloud almost ran to his side.

"I would have preferred to introduce you in a different way," Sephiroth said drowsily, "...probably when I wasn't...half conscious, and when Cloud was wearing pants."

Angeal laughed and Cloud looked down, cringing.

"Shut up, what the _hell_ happened to you? You're a fucking wreck," Cloud snapped as he sat, tilting Sephiroth's chin up and sweeping the knee length hair out of his face. With an almost imperceptible lean, Sephiroth's eyes fluttered closed again, his hopelessly long eyelashes like charcoal against the snow of his skin.

Angeal's eyebrows shot up. How long had they been together for this kid to not be intimidated and even be able to speak to him like that? They seemed ... intensely intimate together, demonstrated in even that slight touch. Angeal's eyes softened; it warmed him to see Sephiroth so comfortable with someone in a way he thought he could never be.

Perhaps now there was one less person for him to mother over.

"General."

Sephiroth's eyes opened.

"I'm leaving. Goodnight."

He left the apartment with one last backward glance, Sephiroth was leaning fully on the cadet, who was stroking his hair, mouth pressed near to his ear.

Angeal suddenly missed Zack terribly and he cursed his sentimentality to hell.

--

"Zack? Puppy, wake up."

A groan, "Hell, _no_, Angeal. You're like a machine, three times a day...more than enough."

Angeal chuckled, slipping his naked arms under the quilts and moved closer to the warmth of Zack's body. He wrapped his arms around him, breathing in the scent of his hair, and kissed the nape of his neck.

"Angeal?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" He sounded so sweet when he asked.

"Yes. I am, Pup."

"Is Sephiroth alright?"

"He'll be fine. Hrm."

"What?" Zack pushed, cuddling into Angeal's sleepy embrace.

"Mm...Sephiroth, he's just so distant and awkward. He doesn't talk much and with his ... looks and his strength ... he seems sometimes inhuman, don't you think?"

"Everyone says so."

"Tonight, I remembered ... he is one of my best friends, but sometimes even I forget. Forget that he can be hurt, that he brushes his hair, wears pyjamas, _snores_! He can drive a truck, he doesn't like _tomatoes_ because they're too slimy and he can't hold his drink ... you forget that he is human. You forget because he is so face-value perfect. So strong, so beautiful, so cold. Nobody really sees anything else in him."

"You do," Zack said, holding his hand.

Angeal blinked for moment, thinking. He kissed the back of Zack's neck again and pulled him closer, his body warming already.

"Thank you, Pup."

**END**

**A/N:** Well, what did you think? Reviews equal love! I personally enjoy a Fiesty!Cloud rather than the Whimperinguke!Cloud. :D I was thinking about posting a second chapter from Cloud's perspective taking care of Sephiroth after Angeal leaves. I wasn't too sure about the ending, I like them when they're quick and to the point and leave you with that little feeling when you're reading. I was thinking about having them bump into Genesis and they both help Sephy and Genesis be the one to say 'you forget...' but a little more sinister-ly. :P I couldn't decide, might write an alternate ending. WHAT DO I DO?! :P


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